AMD intros new M690 mobile platform

Follows up desktop chipsets announced last month

Shares

AMD has announced a new mobile chipset, following up its desktop announcements last month. The M690 chipset is designed for AMD's Turion 64 X2 dual-core processors.

Like AMD's desktop chipsets, the mobile variant uses ATI Radeon X1200 series graphics on-board as well, so the chipset is fully Windows Vista Premium -compliant. Graphics are becoming more of a key driver for laptop sales, as buyers want a chipset that's actually going to handle Microsoft's new OS.

To ensure longer battery life, the AMD M690 also has a new memory technology known as Display Cache1. It's designed to allow the processor to operate in low-power mode without accessing system memory. AMD says this could extend battery life by up to 30 minutes over the company's previous mobile tech.

The chipset is the first to support the former ATI technology, Avivo, which enhances video playback. There's also support for HDMI and DVI.

HP, Asus and Fujitsu Siemens are three manufacturers announcing laptops featuring the M690.